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On the Current Debate About Soil Biodiversity Aus dem Institut für Agrarökologie Traute-Heidi Anderson Hans-Joachim Weigel On the current debate about soil biodiversity Manuskript, zu finden in www.fal.de Published in Landbauforschung Völkenrode 53(2003)4, pp. 223- 233 Braunschweig Bundesforschungsanstalt für Landwirtschaft (FAL) 2003 T.-H. Anderson and H.-J. Weigel / Landbauforschung Völkenrode 4/2003 (53):223-233 223 On the current debate about soil biodiversity Traute-Heidi Anderson1 and Hans-Joachim Weigel1 Abstract Zusammenfassung Extreme exploitation and maltreatment of land in a Zur gegenwärtigen Auseinandersetzung zum Thema number of countries had devastating impacts on terrestri- Bodenbiodiversität al ecosystems (i.e., loss of biodiversity of flora and fauna). Biodiversity became a political topic (UNEP, and Con- Da frühere Fälle extremen Raubbaus an Böden und vention on Biological Diversity (CBD) of the United schlechter Bewirtschaftung verheerende Auswirkungen Nations) decades ago and was recently linked to agricul- auf terrestrische Ökosysteme in einer Anzahl von Ländern tural practices in general (OECD, FAO). A survey of hatten (z. B. Verlust der Biodiversität von Flora und reports on “sustainable land use”, “soil fertility”, and Fauna), entwickelte sich der Begriff Biodiversität zu “soil biodiversity” which are published by such organiza- einem politischen Thema und wurde auch erst vor kurzem tions leave the impression that soil fertility is controlled in einen allgemeinen Zusammenhang mit landwirtschaft- by soil biodiversity. In essence this would mean that a low licher Praxis gebracht (OECD, FAO). Eine Sichtung von soil fertility occurs together with a decrease in soil biodi- Berichten über “nachhaltige Landnutzung”, “Boden- versity. Here is the point where assumptions and scientif- fruchtbarkeit” und “Bodenbiodiversität”, die durch diese ic evidence are far apart with respect to below-ground bio- Organisationen veröffentlicht wurden, vermittelt den Ein- diversity. Because the current discussion propagates soil druck, dass Bodenfruchtbarkeit durch Bodenbiodiversität biodiversity as a soil quality indicator, it seems necessary gesteuert bzw. von ihr abhängig sei. Dem Sinn nach würde to question this approach with respect to microbial biodi- dies bedeuten, dass eine geringe Bodenfruchtbarkeit die versity of soils. Biological soil functions such as the main- Folge verminderter Bodenbiodiversität sei. Diese Sicht- tenance of soil fertility are based on the concerted action weise stellt jedoch eher eine Annahme dar, die gegenwär- of soil organisms such as soil microflora and soil fauna. tig durch wissenschaftliche Belege nicht gestützt werden For both biological entities no specific soil functions can kann. Da in der zur Zeit anhaltenden Diskussion über be assigned to species diversity per se. Since organic mat- “Bodenbiodiversität” der Begriff schon als Bodenqua- ter turnover and nutrient turnover are mainly dependent litäts-Indikator vorgeschlagen wird, erscheint es aus on the activity of the soil microbial biomass (bacteria and mikrobiologischer Sicht angebracht, diesen Ansatz zu fungi), the present paper concentrates on this biological hinterfragen. soil fraction. Biologische Bodenfunktionen, wie der Erhalt der An attempt will be made to give an overview of the sci- Bodenfruchtbarkeit, basieren auf der Wechselwirkung entific background of soil microbial biodiversity. Interde- zwischen Bodenorganismen wie der Bodenmikroflora und pendencies between the abiotic and biotic components der Bodenfauna. Für beide biologischen Einheiten kann will be described, together with the relationship between keine bestimmte Bodenfunktion genannt werden, die in above-ground and below-ground biodiversity. irgendeiner Weise mit Artenvielfalt per se in Zusammen- hang zu bringen wäre. Da der Umsatz organischer Sub- Keywords: soil microbial biodiversity, eco-physiological stanz und der Umsatz von Nährstoffen in der Hauptsache quotients, fungal:bacterial ratio, Cmic/Corg ratio, qCO2 von der Aktivität der mikrobiellen Biomasse des Bodens (Bakterien und Pilze) abhängig ist, konzentrieren sich die Ausführungen auf diese biologische Bodenfraktion. Es wird versucht, Hintergrundwissen zum Thema mikrobielle Biodiversität von Böden aus der einschlägi- gen Literatur zusammenzustellen. Wechselwirkungen zwischen abiotischen und biotischen Komponenten von Böden finden ebenso Berücksichtigung wie die Bezie- hung zwischen der oberirdischen und unterirdischen Bio- diversität. Schlüsselworte: mikrobielle Bodenbiodiversität, ökophy- 1 Institute of Agroecology, Federal Agricultural Research Centre (FAL), siologische Quotienten, Pilz:Bakterien-Verhältnis, Bundesallee 50, 38116 Braunschweig/Germany Cmic/Corg-Verhältnis, qCO2 224 1 Introduction identify isolated organisms. This does not speak for a quick routine lab procedure. Since intensification of agricultural production was The last decade has produced a great number of scien- identified as one of the major factors of soil destruction tific papers, mainly reviews, reflections or assumptions on and loss of biodiversity per se, international organizations soil microbial biodiversity and ecosystem function (i.e. (United Nations Conference on the Human Environment Turco et al., 1994; Beare et al., 1995; Kennedy and Smith, (UNEP), 1972; Convention on Biological Diversity 1995; Bengtsson, 1996, 1998; Wolters, (ed.), 1997; Giller (CBD)1992; OECD, 2001) have provided the necessary et al., 1997; Sparling, 1997; Bowman, 1998; Andrén and platform and have worked out strategies on how to pro- Balandreau, 1999; Wardle et al., 1999a,b). Taken together, ceed in order to introduce and keep “sustainable land use” the majority of information given here does not allow the a political issue. In discussing ways how to protect terres- conclusion to be drawn that soil biodiversity regulates soil trial ecosystems with their natural resources and biota fertility. On the contrary, the majority of authors advocate against irreversible losses, they have called upon their an opinion which was provocatively expressed by Bengts- members to contribute indicators which would be applica- son (1996) “there is no (direct) mechanistic relationship ble to many countries and would be helpful to policy mak- between diversity and ecosystem function. To think that ers for law enforcement. The following are excerpts of a one single number - species richness or a diversity index paper held at the OECD Expert Meeting on Soil Erosion - can capture the complex relationships between many and Soil Biodiversity Indicators, Rome, March 2003. species and the functional roles of these interactions is With respect to indicators for agriculture, “soil (micro- ..naive .. and negates most ecological research since the bial) biodiversity” is generally linked to “soil fertility” 1960s”. (FAO, 2001). Here assumptions and scientific evidence do The objective of this paper is to give a short overview of not agree. It is difficult to trace the first appearance of this the scientific information on soil microbial diversity. The combination of “soil biodiversity - soil fertility”. With intention is to point out the weakness of “soil biodiversi- respect to the impacts of agricultural management on ty” as an indicator of soil functions, particularly whenev- soils, attention has focused since the outset on identifying er a link between soil fertility and microbial biodiversity possible bio-indicators, specifically also microbiological is attempted. Since nutrient turnover for plant growth is a bio-indicators which are suitable for defining “soil quali- key function of the soil microbial decomposer communi- ty” or “soil health” (Lynch and Elliott, 1997; Dighton, ty, the present paper concentrates on this biological frac- 1997; Doran and Safley, 1997; Elliott, 1997). The defini- tion. Alternative microbial indicators for soil monitoring tions given for these two terms are actually interchange- purposes are proposed. able, whereby “soil health” comprises more the biological components of soils, i.e. “ the ability of a soil to perform 2 Species richness of soil microorganisms and ecosys- functions that are required for the biological components tem development of an ecosystem...” (Dick, 1997). Pankhurst (1997) in his review assessed the possible link between soil biodiversi- Not every natural soil ecosystem contains the same ty, soil functional processes and soil health while Altieri number of taxonomic entities. Traditionally ecologists (1999) takes a very isolated position in that he indeed sees determine the degree of species richness or diversity by a relationship between soil biodiversity and soil fertility simply counting all species in an area (or sample) of inter- with respect to crop production management. Since one est. By weighting the relative abundance of one species to functional process of the microbial community is the the total number of species, a qualitative index can be turnover of nutrients and therewith the maintenance of obtained which can differentiate between rare and domi- “soil fertility,” the pressure to aggregate viewpoints may nant species (Krebs, 1985). This information can be of have produced this oversimplification: soil biodiversity ecological significance. Microbial ecologists have adopt- predicts soil fertility. ed this procedure when trying to quantify below-ground Except for extreme soil conditions - such as deserts - biodiversity. It is an accepted ecological concept that the soil harbors the most diverse biotic communities on earth. set of environmental conditions shapes
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